An agreement between Air Belgium and South Africa’s independent airline, Airlink, saw an inaugural flight from Brussels touch down at the Cape Town International Airport on 19 September, marking the beginning of the airline’s seasonal flights to South Africa. The two airlines now operate a bi-weekly flight between Brussels, Johannesburg and Cape Town using the fuel-efficient Airbus A330 NEO aircraft. The newcomer directly connects customers travelling to or from Brussels to 36 destinations across 11 sub-Saharan countries, relieving the dire flight shortage, especially on Johannesburg to Cape Town route.
Southern Africa’s airline market, like other regions across the continent, had gotten even smaller post-COVID19 making it an appealing time for a new airline to emerge. Lack of funding, high fuel costs, lack of infrastructure and strong air traffic navigation systems are some of the problems that plague African airline operators. It is reported that the market is under-supplied, especially during peak travel periods.
This first cooperation agreement between both companies offers Air Belgium customers the ability to purchase multi-sector journeys for flights operated by Air Belgium and Airlink, on a single ticket. It includes the added ability to have their luggage checked through their final destination when transiting through Johannesburg.
It is hoped to simplify travel to bucket-list Southern African destinations for Air Belgium customers across Airlink’s network, who want a convenient long-haul service. The flight also will directly connect the European Union’s capital and Southern Africa’s heart of international diamond trade, industrial manufacturing, and trade.
“South Africa is in high demand for Belgian and European travellers. We are delighted that our dynamic agreement with Airlink will allow us to offer our customers seamless connections to 12 popular South African leisure and business destinations such as the Kruger National Park, Durban and Gqeberha (formerly known as Port Elizabeth) as well as important business destinations like Kimberley, Bloemfontein and Richards Bay amongst others. We’re also excited to be able to offer our passengers the possibility to travel to bucket-list destinations within the SADC region as well as Madagascar, Lesotho, and the DRC, ” said Air Belgium CEO Niky Terzakis.
The airline promises travellers choice, reliability, top-quality service and convenience which Airlink CEO and Managing Director, Rodger Foster said are the company’s hallmarks.
“It is difficult to say what the sustainability of a new operator will be because many have tried and failed. We will just have to wait and see”, said Kirby Gordon who is the CMO of FlySafair another independent airline operator on the Johannesburg to Cape Town route.
